BACOLOD CITY -- Following the disputed sale and lease of a state-owned 7.7-hectare property to Ayala Land, Inc., the Negros Occidental provincial government has decided to forge on and lease out another lot currently occupied by the Paglaum Sports Complex.

Robinsons Land Corp. has expressed interest in the site, Governor Alfredo G. Marañon, Jr. said on Monday.

“We will conduct a bidding for it next. There’s no schedule yet but we’re doing it as soon as possible,” Mr. Marañon said Monday, referring to a portion of a four-hectare site.

Robinsons Land could not be immediately reached to comment.

Since only a portion of the property will be leased out, the governor said the football field and the stadium will be retained.

“The stadium remains. It only needs repairs. The football field will be moved closer to the stadium,” he said. The last major sports event hosted by the facility was the football matches during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

The provincial government will no longer avail of the loan offered by the Development Bank of the Philippines to develop the area, he added.

The province had planned to take out a loan for the rehabilitation, renovation and reconfiguration of the facility located in the heart of the city.

The provincial government there had planned to construct a three-storey commercial building in the area which used to be occupied by informal settlers. -- Nanette L. Guadalquiver